The Point of No Return
by doctorHolmestuck
Summary: Set after "The Temporary Bride", continues the story of Eleanor and Sherlock's partnership and just how far Eleanor would go for Sherlock.
1. Prologue

School had been in session for about two weeks and Eleanor's parents had forced her to get a job when she kept scamming money off her parents to look after Sherlock.

Sherlock's behaviour had been steadily growing worse and worse over the time Eleanor had known him. Eleanor was being forced to pay off Sherlock's debts when he tried to get information, and she had to pay for his food and shelter until he moved into her office. She was also trying to get Sherlock off the drugs...again.

_Do I really want to know where he keeps getting all of this stuff? You shouldn't trust any of the dealers in Salisbury, Elizabeth, and Parafield Gardens; you have no idea just what they put into their stuff..._

She had been in her office since four in the morning and it was getting scarily close to her next shift.

_Gods damn it Sherlock, I start work at nine..._

He had been out all night, so Eleanor thought now was a good time to do a spot of cleaning and removal. It hadn't been going well. Thus far she had removed twelve small bags of crack, seven syringes, three bongs (probably stolen from the club), two pipes, and fifty-eight bottles of various alcohols.

_I'm so glad most of these aren't open..._

She had changed into her work uniform hours ago; she had already figured she would be there a while. Collecting all the narcotics she could find, she stuffed them into a bag and left her office. Eleanor carried the bag until she got to the nearest bin she could find.

Then she caught a bus and went to work, carrying the bag with her.

* * *

><p>She ran in the door just in time for the start of her shift.<p>

"Astounding. Eleanor Winchester has arrived to work on time today. Congratulations. A round of applause for this world shattering event, somebody please alert the Vatican," said her boss, seeing her run in the door.

"There's no need to be so cynical, sir," Eleanor said, catching her breath.

"Cynical? Every day you come gallivanting to work at all sorts of hours, this is the first time you've been to work on time since you started here."

"I'm really sorry, sir. I'm trying my best to do everything right, but things keep getting in the way..."

"Eleanor, I don't care. You're a big girl. You have responsibilities. You can't go around chasing flights of fancy anymore. Eleanor, if you don't grow up you'll never get anywhere in life."

"I think I need to start working, sir. May I go now?"

"That's the spirit. You're on the front. Start serving."

_Thank goodness he didn't ask about my bag..._

Her boss started to turn away, but then something occurred to him.

"Oh Eleanor, what's in that bag?" he asked, turning back to her.

"Just some stuff I was getting rid of for a friend."

Her boss gave her a suspicious glare then turned and walked away. Quickly hurrying to her locker, Eleanor stuffed the bag inside.

* * *

><p>Her break was nearly over when she received a text from Sherlock.<p>

_Pursuing criminal, wouldn't mind help – SH_

She rolled her eyes.

_Too busy, at work – EW_

After a few seconds her phone bleeped again.

_Okay – SH_

She suddenly had a very bad feeling in the pit of her stomach.

_This is not going to end well..._


	2. The Start of Something Really Terrible

Being on the front always irritated Eleanor. She didn't like having to stay in pretty much the same place and take people's orders when most of the people were really malicious to her.

She was undergoing one of these abusive customers now.

"-And I want three pickles arranged in a perfect equilateral triangle from the centremost point of the burger."

"Anything else, ma'am?" Eleanor was trying her best not the throttle this woman where she stood. Sherlock had been teaching her Baritsu so she was getting pretty good at fighting people now.

"Yes, I want each one of my fries to be exactly four inches in length."

"Would you also like us to throw in a ruler and a calculator to change that into metric for you?"

"Why, of all the... I want to speak to your manager!"

"I'll just go get him then, ma'am. You're food will be along in a moment."

Eleanor finished plugging the order into her monitor, then went to go find her boss. However, her boss was also looking for her.

"Winchester, why did you give my private phone number out to strangers?"

"Sir, I don't know your private number, how could I have possibly sent it out to people?"

"Well there is a person on the end who says they need to speak with you urgently. Don't make a habit of this."

Eleanor took the phone carefully; she had a feeling about who would be on the other end.

"Ellie, I need you to watch out for a tall man with bleached blonde hair, grey eyes, a heavy tan, and the beginnings of a black eye."

"Sherlock, what the hell? I'm at work. I can't go chasing criminals with you while I'm at work."

"I know, that's why I've got this all planned out."

"That doesn't reassure me, you know."

"It wasn't meant to, now get back to work."

"You don't have to tell me twice. Also, don't call this number again; my boss might try to sack me."

She hung up the phone before he could answer, and then hurried back to her position at the counter. The rude lady was eating her food and taking out a ruler to measure every detail about her meal.

_I guess she didn't need a ruler from us then..._

She looked out the glass doors and saw a sight which made her want to hit something.

_Oh, hell no..._

Sherlock was running behind the man he had described on the phone, straight towards the building.

_You cannot be serious Sherlock..._

The man was almost through the door, some of the customers were starting to stare. Sherlock was lagging behind the man. Then he saw that Eleanor was watching, winked and let the man run straight inside.

_Sherlock, you're a dick..._

The man was making a b-line for the next exit. He was, however, interrupted by a leaping Eleanor. She had sprung over the counter and tackled the man, pinning him to the floor and holding him in a lock. Sherlock entered, followed by two police officers.

"Thank you ma'am, this man would probably have gotten away from us," said the first police officer.

"That's okay, I had a bit of forewarning from a friend of mine," Eleanor replied, looking at Sherlock.

She got off the criminal while the police officers hand-cuffed him, and then led him out of the building and towards their car.

"You could have told me what you were going to do," Eleanor scolded Sherlock.

"That would have taken away from the fun of it," Sherlock returned with a smile.

"I will not use the word I normally call you as there are children here who are watching and listening to this exchange."

Eleanor turned, jumped over the counter, and returned to work.

* * *

><p>Sherlock had been taken away the police officers for a statement earlier, so Eleanor had a chance to collect her nerves and think about where to dump Sherlock's stash.<p>

_Maybe a bin at a random shopping centre before going home..._

She had been pulled off the front shortly after the incident, so she was now working in the kitchen, flipping burgers and what not. Part of her found it more entertaining than working the front, the other part was annoyed because she couldn't look at people and try to figure out how to read them like Sherlock could.

As Eleanor flipped another burger onto a bun her boss strolled up behind her.

"Eleanor, may I speak with you for a moment," he asked, cautiously.

Eleanor pushed the burger along to the next station and turned to face her boss.

"Sir?"

"We need to talk about what happened earlier."

"Just how much earlier are talking about, sir?"

"The man you tackled to the floor."

"Ah..."

Eleanor flipped another burger onto another bun and sent it on its way.

Her boss gave a slight cough and began to tap his foot on the floor impatiently.

"Do you need a cough lolly, sir?" Eleanor enquired, turning to face her employer.

"I'm fine. Winchester... Eleanor, would step into my office for the moment?"

"Yes sir," said Eleanor as her boss lead the two of them away.

* * *

><p>"Win... Eleanor, a criminal ran through our shop and was apprehended with physical force by one of my staff this morning."<p>

"I know sir, I was there."

"Don't be smart with me Win... Eleanor."

"I wasn't intending to sir, I was just stating a fact," Eleanor said, meekly.

"...Eleanor, the safety of our customers was threatened today. That criminal, he could have grabbed any one of our patrons and held them hostage. What you did today, stop that fiend...you have saved the store, thank you Eleanor. As a reward for this all the strikes that have been placed on your record will be wiped and any new offences will be politely ignored until the end of the month. You may leave now."

Eleanor snapped her head up at the 'thank you'.

_He never thanks me... The heck has gotten into him...?_

Eleanor stood up, nodded politely, and then left the room.

* * *

><p>Sherlock was casually lying down on her bed, hands behind his head and legs crossed at the ankles.<p>

_I have _got_ to get him some better summer clothes..._

"Sherlock, why are you wearing boardies and nothing else?" Eleanor asked trying not to look at his crotch and thanking any god who would care to listen that he wasn't wearing budgie-smugglers.

"Out of clothes," he mumbled lazily, "need you to do some laundry."

Eleanor glared at Sherlock.

"I'm not bloody house-maid. Wash your own damn clothes," she rebutted, throwing herself down on the bed. Sherlock moved his feet so she would land on them.

"Careful," he said briskly.

"Like you ever are," Eleanor retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Ha-de-ha, so how was work?"

She looked over at him suspiciously, "you never ask me how work was. You're always annoyed that I'm not working with you on cases. What have you done?"

Sherlock finally opened his eyes and looked at her, "nothing."

_His eyes are bloodshot again. Sherlock, why do you insist on trying to kill yourself? One day you might actually succeed you daft fool..._

"I've been given a clean slate thanks to that bloke earlier. All my past misdeeds wiped, and no new ones until next month."

Sherlock slumped his head against the pillow again and made a little _Mmmm_ sound.

The two sat in silence on the bed for a few minutes, Eleanor on the verge of napping when Sherlock started talking again.

"You know I spent good money and information on that stash."

"I would like to remind you where that money came from and just what would happen should that source suddenly _dry up_," Eleanor made sure to put extra emphasis on the last two words.

"You are a slave driver, I swear..."

"You keep telling yourself that, Shirley, dear."

"Don't call me Shirley."

"Only when you stop quoting."

"I don't even know what I'm supposedly quoting here."

"Eh, one of these days I'll get around to showing you that film."

"Sometimes I worry about my future sanity with you."

"Did we have any to begin with?"

"Probably not."

"Then what's there to worry about?"


	3. Author's Note, not a proper chapter

Hello, doctorHolmestuck here.

I haven't really done one of these before, but I think now is the time to do so. I know that not a lot of people read my stories, which is fine, but I just want anyone who does read my stories to know that this current story is going to take a while. I intend to make this one follow the life of Sherlock during the hiatus and a friend of mine keeps _asking_ that I ship Eleanor and Sherlock.

This is the same person that made me ship Neve and Sebastian. She seems to like my fluff, or something.

So I just want anyone who reads these fics to leave any plot ideas they like the reviews section. I'll take anything; after all, I've got three years to fill. I already plan for Eleanor to get fired from the shop, that's in the next chapter. I also plan for Eleanor to get injured in order to make him rethink his effect on people.

I also plan for a future one-shot which shows the back-story behind Neve and Sebastian's romance and just how Jim took it. *spoiler: he doesn't take it well*

I'd also like to offer up a little challenge to any readers out there (I already know of one reader who wants to do this), the challenge is this; what does Eleanor look like? What does Neve look like? What does Avery look like? Any character you want, you can design and send me links to. I'm offering this because I know I don't really describe what my OCs look like. I do this because it allows you, the reader, to fill in the details yourselves. Without a clear demanding image set in stone, as it were, your mind fills in all the details. I want to see what you see because I don't really see Eleanor myself; I'm always looking out of her eyes. In fact, whenever I write a character, I'm always in their head, looking out at the world around me.

I plan for some pretty dramatic turns coming up in "the Point of No Return"; you can probably take a stab at some of them from my previous fics (i.e., "No Release"). The plan is to have the story end back in London for the reunion between Sherlock and John (Sherlock is going to have fun ruining the confidence of John's new girlfriend Mary, _wait... do I hear wedding bells...?_) and have Sherlock ask for John's help concerning Eleanor.

Some of you may also wonder about the way Eleanor treats Sherlock, she goes from revering him to bitching at him to being really defensive around him. I just want to let anyone who reads these to know that I'm going to explain her behaviour in this story.

Before I go, I just want to ask everyone's opinion on how I write. Do you like the way I include small quotes from the minds of the characters? Do you like how I have strings of dialogue? Should I describe the scene more? I don't really get that much feedback from people, and when I do it's generally the same person and I know she doesn't really comment on how I write that much.

Thank you to anyone who reads my stories, I only started writing fan-fiction because that friend of mine that I keep referencing asked me to, so I don't really know what I'm doing here. Everything I've been uploading has been my first ever proper attempt at fan-fiction, so I hope any readers out there actually like it and would deign to tell me so.

Kind regards, doctorHolmestuck


	4. Accommodating Interests

"What do you mean _'I have to find my own place'_, I'm sixteen! I shouldn't have to search the mean streets of Adelaide in order to find somewhere to live!" Eleanor shouted, starting to go hysterical. It was nearly a month since she tackled that bloke in the shop and she was starting to grow very worried that her monetary supply would run out.

_I can't support the both of us, and I'm still in school. What the heck are my parent's thinking...?_

"Ellie, you know we love you, but you're not focusing. Your attention is wandering to all sorts of ill behaviours and you've come home in a police car for the fifth time this week, and it's only Monday! We can't have our little girl running around and getting herself into trouble with the law," her father tried to reason with her.

It was no use, of course, as Eleanor was on the verge of outright insanity at this conversation.

"I'm not getting into trouble with the law, father, I'm helping it! I help Sergeant Bates solve crimes and apprehend criminals."

Her mother screamed.

"You do _what_?"

Eleanor faltered.

_Wait... Did I not tell them about..? Oh crap..._

"I'll go and pack my bags then..."

Hurriedly, Eleanor turned and bolted out of the room.

* * *

><p>"So what are you going to do?" Sherlock asked as Eleanor thumped down on the end of the bed. She had just arrived at her office and had told Sherlock everything that had transpired at her parent's house.<p>

"Well, the way I see it I have three options. One, I live in a cardboard box and a sleeping bag in a ditch by the side of the road begging for money until you drag me off on another case. Two, I stay here and try to get to work reasonably on time so I can keep my job until you drag me off on another case which will result in me getting fired. And three, I plead my case to Avery's family and hope I can stay, go to work with normality and try to stop you from getting me fired."

"None of those sound like good ideas, the last one was the most promising, but you don't say anything about our stopping crime together."

"We're not vigilantes, Sherlock, and I'm actually trying to have a life here. Why do you have to be such a colossal dick all the time?"

Sherlock stared at her with his quicksilver eyes. He knew something was wrong, there was something hidden away inside her brain that she was trying to keep away from everyone. He knew it was tearing her up inside.

"What aren't you telling me, Eleanor?"

_Shit, he can't have read it... Not all of it, at least..._

"What do you mean Sherlock?" Eleanor asked in all honesty.

Sherlock continued to stare right into her eyes, waiting for a reflex response. Eleanor continued to look back at him questioningly. Then he sprung up from the bed, threw on a shirt and some pants, and then walked out the door.

"Sherlock, one, where are you going, and two, why aren't you wearing shoes and socks?" Eleanor called after him.

Sherlock back tracked into the room, grabbed his shoes and socks, slipped them onto his feet, grabbed Eleanor's hand and dragged her out of the room.

* * *

><p>They were sitting on the grass in Elder Park, overlooking the river Torrens. Eleanor noticed the Popeye take off on another Zoo run.<p>

"Okay, why did you drag me here, Sherlock?" Eleanor said, turning to look at him.

"I thought the fresh air would loosen your lips," he replied lamely, looking out at the peddle boats paddling across the river.

"I'm not one to talk easily, Sherlock. Getting me too talk is going to take a lot more than... Sherlock, what are you looking at?"

Sherlock was sitting bolt upright and staring at one of the peddle boat drivers, she were starting to flail around as if something were attacking her, then she almost dived out of the boat and went under. She wasn't coming back up and there were no bubbles. A bystander ran into the water to try and find the girl, it was obvious that he wouldn't find her.

"Go on Sherlock, I'm listening, tell me how it happened," Eleanor said glancing at Sherlock's face and seeing him try to repress the urge to run down to the scene in order to deduce everything about it.

"Mid thirties, single mother, recently divorced. Children at a family member's house, most likely a sister, possibly a brother, hard to tell without looking at her phone. Business woman, probably something to do with finance going by the state of her hands and how her hair is done, out with a new partner at the moment, probably the one who jumped in after her, she's most likely on her break so she wouldn't work far from here, probably a bank. Something was disturbing her boat and she jumped out to try and swim for it, whatever it was probably grabbed her when she jumped and dragged her down with it. Someone wants her dead, not the ex husband he probably left her, most likely because he had found someone better, probably a woman who would have sex with him more readily. Could be a colleague but that would be stupid as they would have had to wait in the river for hours and they would have to assume that she was going to be peddle boating anyway. A colleague could have paid someone else to do it but she's a banker, probably not a lot for someone to gain by bumping her off..."

Eleanor nudged Sherlock and indicated to something on the far bank. A Diver was sliding out the river, using the distraction of the crowd to get away.

"What do you make of that Sherlock?" Eleanor queried as the Diver ran off behind a bush to change.

"Late twenties, professional diver, lack of conscience so he has probably killed before, mildly hurried but he's finished changing and is watching the scene, so he's probably been paid since a person who instigated it would probably want to get away from the scene as fast as possible. Diver assassin, seventeen working in this state alone, two-hundred and eighty-three in this country, six-foot two, with haggard look, probably Daniel Chambers, he's been quite down and out lately since one of his charges managed to live long enough to tell the police that people were after him. Chambers is probably here to fix his reputation by working for someone important, but the degree of importance is going to determine whether or not he lives. He's not going to see the end of the week."

The Diver, Chambers, looked up from where he was watching the crowd try to find the body and saw Sherlock and Eleanor looking at him. Sherlock winked and put a finger to his lips. Chambers seemed to relax.

_Idiot, he probably thinks were spies to make sure he's done his job right. Though I suppose the world's overpopulated anyway; it could do with a few less people..._

To try and complete the disguise Eleanor gave a small nod of her head. This seemed to be a message to Chambers and he also gave a nod and casually started to walk away.

"Do we follow him?" Eleanor asked once Chambers was out of earshot.

Sherlock sat in contemplation for a short while, but then he sprung up suddenly, grabbing Eleanor's hand, and sprinted after Chambers.

* * *

><p>"You know Sherlock, I think that the best part about running with you is the fact that my feet hardly touch the ground."<p>

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you drag me along by the arm so fast my feet only hit earth once every five odd steps."

The two of them were running, although it was more Sherlock running and Eleanor being pulled behind him. Sherlock could just see Chambers up ahead and was making sure the two of them didn't lose him.

_Please, Sherlock, don't dislocate my arm, I rather need it for writing..._

* * *

><p>Eleanor was casually sitting in the hospital waiting room. There had been a slight accident during the pursuit of Chambers which resulted in Eleanor having a dislocated shoulder and Sherlock almost bifurcating himself on a steel rod. Sherlock was currently being examined to make sure Eleanor had removed all the pieces of wood from his skin.<p>

Then Eleanor remembered something rather important.

_Crap, it's three o'clock..._

She scrambled for her phone, but remembered the police had taken it as evidence after she used it to hit one of their assailants over the head. She scampered off to find a pay phone.

"I'm really, really sorry sir. I'm at the hospital right now. I can't believe I missed the start of my shift..." Eleanor apologised down the phone line.

"Don't worry Winchester, you won't need to worry about coming in to work," came her boss's crackly voice down the line.

"I'm fired, aren't I?"

"It far more economical for us to downsize a staff member who doesn't really work as hard as she should, than to pay for said worker's sick leave," her boss said calmly.

Eleanor was on the verge of tears, too much had happened to her that day.

"Please sir, just give me one more chance-"

"Winchester, you've been given over twenty chances already, there's a fine line between being kind and being stupid. We'll have one of the girls bring all the things from your locker home."

"Uh... Sir, I don't live at home anymore, I got kicked out."

"Oh... Well then... You can pick your stuff up from your parent's house later, good day Winchester."

"Good day sir," Eleanor chocked out the last word. She hung up the phone and leaned heavily against the wall. She started to cry whilst sliding down to the floor.

* * *

><p>Sherlock walked out into the waiting room five minutes later to find Eleanor crying on the floor, rocking backwards and forwards slowly. He was very confused.<p>

"Eleanor, why are you sitting on the floor crying whilst rocking backwards and forwards?" he asked approaching very slowly and cautiously.

Eleanor ignored Sherlock and kept rocking.

"...Ellie what's wrong?" Sherlock asked softly, reaching down to touch Eleanor's shoulder.

Unfortunately he reached for her recently dislocated shoulder and received a punch to the snout for his efforts.

"Well, at least I'm in the right place for getting injured," he said, grabbing a tissue out of his pocket to stem the nose bleed caused by Eleanor's punch.

Sherlock got the impression that his attempts at humour were getting him nowhere, so he tried drastic measures.

"You can hit me as much as you like, I don't mind."

Sherlock regretted saying that after Eleanor beat him up.

_She has certainly become adept at finding weak points... What is it with her and getting guys in the groin...?_

* * *

><p>Avery's family had come home to find Eleanor, battered and bruised, sleeping in their doorway. There was a sticky-note stuck to her forehead that read <em>'My parents kicked me out of the house, I got fired today, and I dislocated my shoulder earlier, may I stay the night? I won't be any trouble!'<em>

Avery woke her up and led the poor, tired girl inside her home.


	5. Tainted Drugs

Eleanor's grades had been getting steadily worse as time wore on. It had been a month and a half since she had been fired and dislocated her shoulder. Eleanor had been staying with Avery's family since that time. Avery's family were finding her to be a bit of a stretch on their budget so Eleanor was looking for a new job to try and take some of the pressure off her and continue supporting Sherlock.

"Ellie, he's hot but really, you need to ditch him. He's only using you for money, if he's really as special and important as you say he is then he should be able to make his own way. You're going to get hurt," Avery told Eleanor carefully. The two of them were sitting on Avery's bed and talking about Eleanor's problems. They all seemed to be revolving around one Sherlock Holmes.

"Avery, you don't understand, he had to fake his own death to protect his friends. He saved you, under my own instructions. He is single hand-idly trying to bring down the largest criminal organisation in the whole world. He is also getting me a position with the police force crime scene investigation unit for when I leave school, I told him I only want to do that when I finish uni, but he won't listen. He wants me there as soon as possible so that he has free reign on crime scenes. Also, he's my friend, if there's anything I've learned about friends is that you have to look after them, no matter who or what they are," Eleanor said, thinking about one friend in particular on the last sentence.

"Ellie, you're born to be a mother, you try to look after everyone else before yourself. Take some time for yourself. You're going to go completely mad if you keep this up. Start being selfish, woman!" Avery almost yelled at Eleanor.

"Avery, are you okay?" Eleanor asked as Avery started to hyperventilate.

Avery fell off the bed, unconscious.

"This isn't good," Eleanor said as she reached down to find Avery's pulse and call an ambulance.

* * *

><p>Eleanor was sitting in the hospital waiting room, Sherlock casually strolling through the glass double doors. She was about ready to throttle the man, and was regretting teaching him about Australian stereotypes.<p>

Sherlock Holmes, the world's greatest detective, had just entered a hospital wearing thongs, boardies, a wife-beater, and akubra. He strolled over to Eleanor.

"Such a master of disguise, aren't you," Eleanor said, voice dripping with annoyed sarcasm.

"That was sarcasm, wasn't it?" Sherlock asked as he plonked down in the chair beside Eleanor.

"No shit, Sherlock," Eleanor said as a nurse walked over to the pair. Eleanor stood as the nurse approached, "any news," Eleanor asked, anxiously.

"We've been able to determine that it she has suffered from a drug overdose, but we don't know what. She's presenting all the symptoms of an overdose and we've pumped her stomach, but nothing matches up. We have no idea what is really wrong with her. All we can really do is keep her resting and monitoring what goes into her," the Nurse said, in all honesty.

Sherlock stood up, "may I get a sample of what was pumped out of her stomach?"

The nurse looked at Sherlock as if he were completely insane.

"Sherlock, what could you possibly want with my friend's stomach juices?" Eleanor asked.

"To test whatever drug is inside and what sort of antitoxin we can get for it," Sherlock said, simply.

"Sadly, that actually makes sense," Eleanor said as the group walked towards the corridor that would lead them to Avery's room.

* * *

><p><em>Please, Neve, please don't have anything to do with this...<em>

Eleanor held Avery's hand. She never realised how small it really was before that point. Eleanor could fit Avery's entire hand inside of her own.

_Since Neve was taken from me, I've almost made you my sister. I guess I've been a terrible sister; it was my fault you were kidnapped, your family has had to take care of me, and now this. You over dosed on drugs. What have I done wrong? Am I so terrible a friend that you have to result to taking drugs in order to talk to me? Please wake up and be okay. You have to be okay, you need to tell me that you're okay and whether or not you want me to stay with you. If you don't want me to be with you, then you only had to ask, you didn't have to do this. I could have stopped this but I wasn't there, just like when you were kidnapped. I wasn't there, I could have stopped it, but I didn't. I didn't stop you; I'm a terrible person who can't even help one person. What is wrong with me?_

"If you're going to beat yourself up, at least do it out loud so I can know what you're beating yourself up about," Sherlock said as he sat down opposite Eleanor. The three of them were inside a sterile white hospital room, Avery laying on the crisp white hospital sheets completely out of it with Sherlock on one side and Eleanor holding her hand on her other side.

Eleanor sighed, "It's nothing, Sherlock. What have you found out?"

"Pain killers," Sherlock began, leaning back in his chair and doing the 'deduction pose' (as Eleanor like to call it) with his hands, "laced with a compound that reduces the amount of oxygen the body absorbs. It-"

"What's the compound?" Eleanor cut-in.

"I was getting to that," Sherlock said, irritably, "anyway, this compound, it causes the body to hyperventilate in order to get more oxygen, however, this also increases the levels of CO2 in the body which leads to the subject collapsing. As for what the compound is, I'm not sure. I haven't seen any toxin like it in all of my studies; it latches onto the cells and repels half of the oxygen that reaches them, causing the subject to breathe faster which brings in other contaminants which means that the subject collapses."

"Would you stop calling my friend a subject, she's not a bloody lab rat," Eleanor snapped.

Sherlock stared at Eleanor, analysing everything he could from her expression and body language; she was angry, but at what he didn't know, she was also being possessive, trying to protect Avery from everything else in the world. He had no idea what else she was thinking from her behaviour.

"What is wrong, Eleanor?" Sherlock asked her seriously.

"It's fine, Sherlock, really. Don't worry about it," Eleanor said. Sherlock thought she looked so very tired.

* * *

><p>Read about the Sherlock and Eleanor's adventure solving the case of "The Tainted Drugs" in the next story of the same name.<p>

* * *

><p>Avery had been in rehabilitation for a month since she had last taken drugs. Eleanor was with her every day she went. Avery was getting sick of all the attention.<p>

_Why can't Ellie just let me do things on my own? What is with her at the moment? She's worse than my mother…_

Avery knew what she had to do. She had to make sure Eleanor was out of her life. At least for a little while.


End file.
